It was a wild final day of the regular season with a couple teammate-on-teammate skirmishes, a major injury for the Wolves and Jaden McDaniels, and ridiculous showings from Cam Thomas, Peyton Pritchard, Theo Pinson and Kenneth Lofton. And Luka Doncic assured Mavericks fans that he's happy and fine. Here's what you may have missed while you were watching the Masters.
Sunday Drama
Rudy Gobert and teammate Kyle Anderson got into it on the sidelines on Sunday and Gobert ended up landing a punch to the chest of Slo Mo. He didn't re-enter the game, was sent home for the rest of the afternoon and could be facing internal discipline from the Wolves.
Oh my Rudy Gobert just threw a punch at his own teammate Kyle Anderson pic.twitter.com/6GP5wwkCqW
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) April 9, 2023
Jaden McDaniels was angered by being called for a foul late in the first quarter and punched a wall in the tunnel, resulting in a broken hand that will end his season. Taurean Prince will likely start in his place against the Lakers on Tuesday and Anderson will also see a boost in his absence.
Jaden McDaniels punched a wall on the way to the locker room 😬
He is out the rest of the game with a hand injury pic.twitter.com/QVGMp1hful
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 9, 2023
Clippers teammates Bones Hyland and Mason Plumlee got into it after Plumlee failed to pass the ball to Hyland on a fastbreak. Words were exchanged
It was a wild final day of the regular season with a couple teammate-on-teammate skirmishes, a major injury for the Wolves and Jaden McDaniels, and ridiculous showings from Cam Thomas, Peyton Pritchard, Theo Pinson and Kenneth Lofton. And Luka Doncic assured Mavericks fans that he's happy and fine. Here's what you may have missed while you were watching the Masters.
Sunday Drama
Rudy Gobert and teammate Kyle Anderson got into it on the sidelines on Sunday and Gobert ended up landing a punch to the chest of Slo Mo. He didn't re-enter the game, was sent home for the rest of the afternoon and could be facing internal discipline from the Wolves.
Oh my Rudy Gobert just threw a punch at his own teammate Kyle Anderson pic.twitter.com/6GP5wwkCqW
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) April 9, 2023
Jaden McDaniels was angered by being called for a foul late in the first quarter and punched a wall in the tunnel, resulting in a broken hand that will end his season. Taurean Prince will likely start in his place against the Lakers on Tuesday and Anderson will also see a boost in his absence.
Jaden McDaniels punched a wall on the way to the locker room 😬
He is out the rest of the game with a hand injury pic.twitter.com/QVGMp1hful
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 9, 2023
Clippers teammates Bones Hyland and Mason Plumlee got into it after Plumlee failed to pass the ball to Hyland on a fastbreak. Words were exchanged and they got into a shoving match before being separated. I'm guessing the Clippers will let this one slide.
Mason Plumlee and Bones Hyland got into it on the Clippers bench. pic.twitter.com/q9OqienLLt
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 9, 2023
While the Mavericks are under investigation for tanking over the weekend with a valuable draft pick hanging in the balance, rumors of Luka Doncic's unhappiness in Dallas continued to swirl. Luka made a statement on Sunday, saying that it's all good. "I'm happy here, so there's nothing to worry [about]," he said after reports surfaced that he could demand a trade as soon as next summer. "It was funny, you know, because I didn't know that was true," he said. "I didn't say it." Luka also said "I didn't like that decision," in regards to the regulars resting on Friday and Sunday.
I'm still not convinced Luka is all that happy and he has to be expecting the Mavs to make some big moves in the next year to get him some help. But, at least he's saying all the right things for Mavs fans.
Silly-Season Heroes
Cam Thomas scored 46 points for the Nets and dunk king Mac McClung led the Sixers with 20 points in a meaningless finale. A guy named Louis King and Shake Milton also scored 20 for the Sixers. Mikal Bridges played just four seconds before being removed by the Nets, putting him at 83 games played this season. Props to Bridges for being a warrior.
Kenny Lofton exploded for 42 points and 14 rebounds for the Grizzlies in a loss to the Thunder. Ziaire Williams added 24 points as the Grizzlies rested all the regulars and played just six guys.
Udonis Haslem scored 24 points in his final regular-season game for the Heat. He'll retire after the season and this was his highest point total since 2009. He came into the league in 2003.
Boston's Payton Pritchard scored 30 points and added 14 rebounds and 11 assists in a silly-season classic triple-double in a loss to the Hawks. Bruno Fernando led Atlanta with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Mark Williams had 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Hornets and Sam Merrill had 17 points for the Cavaliers in a meaningless Hornets win.
Orlando's Kevon Harris scored 22 points with eight rebounds in a loss to the Heat.
Obi Toppin had 34 points and seven rebounds for the Knicks in a loss to the Pacers.
Sandro Mamukelashvili led the Spurs with 23 points and 11 rebounds and Dominick Barlow added 21 points and 19 rebounds in a win over the Mavericks. Jaden Hardy led the Mavs with 25 points and a guy named Theo Pinson had a 23-13-12 triple-double in the loss.
The Warriors won at Portland by a score of 157-101 in a game in which none of their starters played more than 22 minutes. So that was fun.
Coaching Changes
Stephen Silas (Rockets) and Dwane Casey (Pistons) were fired on Sunday. Casey will move into a front office role in Detroit and Silas will look for another job. The Rockets are said to be interested in Ime Udoka, Kenny Atkinson, Frank Vogel, Sam Cassell and Nick Nurse, if he's out in Toronto.
Playoff/Play-in Picture
East
1. Bucks vs. 8. TBD
2. Celtics vs. 7. TBD
3. Sixers vs. 6. Nets
4. Cavaliers vs. 5. Knicks
Play-in Schedule
No. 7 Heat vs. No. 8 Hawks - Tuesday at 7:30pm ET
No. 9 Raptors vs. No. 10 Bulls - Wednesday at 7:00pm ET
West
1. Nuggets vs. 8. TBD
2. Grizzlies vs. 7. TBD
3. Kings vs. 6. Warriors
4. Suns vs. 5. Clippers
Play-in Schedule
No. 7 Lakers vs. No. 8 Timberwolves - Tuesday at 10:00pm ET
No. 9 Pelicans vs. No. 10 Thunder - Wednesday at 9:30pm ET
Enjoy the day off on Monday before we get right back to it on Tuesday for the Play-in games.
